— Photo courtesy of Google Street View

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

On February 7, Somerville Public Schools (SPS) hosted their monthly School Committee meeting.

The meeting revolved mainly on the Superintendents efforts regarding diversity and Black History Month.

At the beginning of the meeting, there was a section for public comment, there were some participants, mostly talking about the need for renovations at the Benjamin G. Brown School near Powderhouse and Davis Square.

Ryan Williams was one of the parents advocating for these renovations. “The city continues to study the problem, but this continued indecision is in fact a decision,” Williams said.

Another parent, recounted anecdotes from fellow Brown School parents. “My son Ethan suffered a fractured arm by a simple trip in the schoolyard heading out to PE. He was not running or doing anything athletic, in fact he was walking in the class line,” they said.

Following public comment, Superintendent Mary Skipper gave her monthly report. This monthly report revolved around different diversity efforts across Somerville Public Schools and Black History Month celebrations.

Dr. Jessica Boston Davis, Director for Equity and Excellence, also gave a presentation highlighting these efforts.

Another item on the agenda was the school calendar for the next academic year. The committee voted to approve this calendar, which was unanimously passed.

“I wanted to remind the public that the 17th is now the last day of school because we’ve had the two days of cancellations,” Skipper said.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne was also in attendance at the meeting. Here, she addressed the calls from parents to renovate the exterior playground at the Brown School.

“I know it’s urgent, and the underlying value of my administration is to keep children safe. We are moving forward, I have met with staff, they’re going to be reaching out with next steps and they’re working really hard with the goal of getting something done this Summer,” Ballantyne said.

For more information on school committee meetings residents can visit: https://somerville.k12.ma.us/district-leadership/somerville-school-committee/school-committee-meetings.